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Publications

The Regional Trends Report on Energy for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific will further accelerate knowledge-sharing within the region by providing an additional platform for member States to share their experiences, through case studies, regarding the energy sector and its future development.

This study introduces a new dataset of bilateral value added trade costs for the goods and services sectors, based on a measure derived from the micro-founded gravity model and using data from the OECD-WTO TiVA database. This is the first study to calculate value added trade costs for a set of developed and developing economies, both for the goods and services sectors. Overall, we find that, in the goods sector and in absolute term, international trade costs calculated using value added data are lower than those calculated using gross trade and output data.

The end of 2015 is the target date for the Millennium Development Goals. Governments across Asia and the Pacific have been striving to meet the Goals, particularly on reducing income poverty. Some subregions and countries have made faster progress than others, but it is clear that the MDGs have prompted high levels of commitment and achievement.

The Working Paper Series on "Measuring Trade in Value Added: Concepts, Estimation and Analysis" aims to introduce the topic of Trade in Value Added (TiVA) and present the initial analysis of TiVA for selected regional ESCAP economies. The Paper introduces Global Value Chains (GVCs) and issues for the measurement of trade statistics due to the advent of GVCs. It further presents the TiVA estimation methodology, as defined in the literature, and talks about the data requirements for estimation.

This working paper introduces the concept of Trade in Value Added (TiVA) and presents an initial analysis of TiVA for selected regional ESCAP economies. The paper introduces Global Value Chains (GVCs) and issues for the measurement of trade statistics due to proliferation of GVCs. It further presents the TiVA estimation methodology, as defined in the literature, and provides an overview of the data requirements for estimation. The paper reviews current initiatives on regional / international input-output tables (IOTs) and TiVA analysis, and availability of data in the Asia-Pacific region.

Transformation for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific region identifies key issues that define the work of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and advocates for regional cooperation and action on core priorities for a future of shared and sustainable prosperity.

This year’s G20 summit will take place on 15-16 November 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. The Turkish presidency of the G20 laid out three priorities: strengthening the global recovery, enhancing resilience, and buttressing sustainability. To ensure inclusive and robust growth through collective action, the Turkish presidency suggested focusing on three I’s: inclusiveness, implementation, and investment for growth.

This publication examines the impact of non-tariff measures (NTMs) on trade in the Asia-Pacific region. As tariffs on traded goods have fallen on average over recent years, non-tariff measures have emerged as one of the principal obstacles to trade. In recent years there has been a proliferation of new NTMs in Asia-Pacific economies, including in developing countries. This proliferation of NTMs may be disadvantageous for developing economies in general, and least developed countries in particular.

A total 36 economies in the Asia and Pacific region are classified as Countries with Special Needs. They are home to more than a quarter of the population of the developing countries in the region, excluding China and India, but they account for less than one tenth of the GDP of that group. The Asia-Pacific Countries with Special Needs Development Report 2015 covers these countries in terms of their current social and economic status, how quickly they are progressing towards their agreed goals and aspirations, and their policy options to accelerate their progress.

Part II of the 2015 edition of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific (theme study for the 71st Commission Session) examines the integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development as a concept and as a practical implementation principle.